TY - GEN A1 - Knox-Brown, Patrick A1 - Rindfleisch, Tobias A1 - Günther, Anne A1 - Balow, Kim A1 - Bremer, Anne A1 - Walther, Dirk A1 - Miettinen, Markus S. A1 - Hincha, Dirk K. A1 - Thalhammer, Anja T1 - Similar Yet Different BT - Structural and Functional Diversity among Arabidopsis thaliana LEA_4 Proteins T2 - Postprints der Universität Potsdam : Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Reihe N2 - The importance of intrinsically disordered late embryogenesis abundant (LEA) proteins in the tolerance to abiotic stresses involving cellular dehydration is undisputed. While structural transitions of LEA proteins in response to changes in water availability are commonly observed and several molecular functions have been suggested, a systematic, comprehensive and comparative study of possible underlying sequence-structure-function relationships is still lacking. We performed molecular dynamics (MD) simulations as well as spectroscopic and light scattering experiments to characterize six members of two distinct, lowly homologous clades of LEA_4 family proteins from Arabidopsis thaliana. We compared structural and functional characteristics to elucidate to what degree structure and function are encoded in LEA protein sequences and complemented these findings with physicochemical properties identified in a systematic bioinformatics study of the entire Arabidopsis thaliana LEA_4 family. Our results demonstrate that although the six experimentally characterized LEA_4 proteins have similar structural and functional characteristics, differences concerning their folding propensity and membrane stabilization capacity during a freeze/thaw cycle are obvious. These differences cannot be easily attributed to sequence conservation, simple physicochemical characteristics or the abundance of sequence motifs. Moreover, the folding propensity does not appear to be correlated with membrane stabilization capacity. Therefore, the refinement of LEA_4 structural and functional properties is likely encoded in specific patterns of their physicochemical characteristics. T3 - Zweitveröffentlichungen der Universität Potsdam : Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Reihe - 901 KW - IDP KW - LEA protein KW - abiotic stress KW - dehydration KW - conformational rearrangement KW - membrane stabilization KW - sequence-structure-function relationship Y1 - 2020 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-469419 SN - 1866-8372 IS - 901 ER - TY - GEN A1 - Boll-Avetisyan, Natalie A1 - Bhatara, Anjali A1 - Höhle, Barbara T1 - Processing of rhythm in speech and music in adult dyslexia T2 - Postprints der Universität Potsdam : Humanwissenschaftliche Reihe N2 - Recent studies have suggested that musical rhythm perception ability can affect the phonological system. The most prevalent causal account for developmental dyslexia is the phonological deficit hypothesis. As rhythm is a subpart of phonology, we hypothesized that reading deficits in dyslexia are associated with rhythm processing in speech and in music. In a rhythmic grouping task, adults with diagnosed dyslexia and age-matched controls listened to speech streams with syllables alternating in intensity, duration, or neither, and indicated whether they perceived a strong-weak or weak-strong rhythm pattern. Additionally, their reading and musical rhythm abilities were measured. Results showed that adults with dyslexia had lower musical rhythm abilities than adults without dyslexia. Moreover, lower musical rhythm ability was associated with lower reading ability in dyslexia. However, speech grouping by adults with dyslexia was not impaired when musical rhythm perception ability was controlled: like adults without dyslexia, they showed consistent preferences. However, rhythmic grouping was predicted by musical rhythm perception ability, irrespective of dyslexia. The results suggest associations among musical rhythm perception ability, speech rhythm perception, and reading ability. This highlights the importance of considering individual variability to better understand dyslexia and raises the possibility that musical rhythm perception ability is a key to phonological and reading acquisition. T3 - Zweitveröffentlichungen der Universität Potsdam : Humanwissenschaftliche Reihe - 630 KW - developmental dyslexia KW - Iambic/Trochaic Law KW - rhythmic grouping KW - musicality KW - speech perception KW - rhythm perception Y1 - 2020 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-469781 SN - 1866-8364 IS - 630 ER - TY - GEN A1 - Witt, Barbara A1 - Schaumlöffel, Dirk A1 - Schaumlöffel, Dirk A1 - Schwerdtle, Tanja T1 - Subcellular Localization of Copper BT - Cellular Bioimaging with Focus on Neurological Disorders T2 - Postprints der Universität Potsdam : Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Reihe N2 - As an essential trace element, copper plays a pivotal role in physiological body functions. In fact, dysregulated copper homeostasis has been clearly linked to neurological disorders including Wilson and Alzheimer’s disease. Such neurodegenerative diseases are associated with progressive loss of neurons and thus impaired brain functions. However, the underlying mechanisms are not fully understood. Characterization of the element species and their subcellular localization is of great importance to uncover cellular mechanisms. Recent research activities focus on the question of how copper contributes to the pathological findings. Cellular bioimaging of copper is an essential key to accomplish this objective. Besides information on the spatial distribution and chemical properties of copper, other essential trace elements can be localized in parallel. Highly sensitive and high spatial resolution techniques such as LA-ICP-MS, TEM-EDS, S-XRF and NanoSIMS are required for elemental mapping on subcellular level. This review summarizes state-of-the-art techniques in the field of bioimaging. Their strengths and limitations will be discussed with particular focus on potential applications for the elucidation of copper-related diseases. Based on such investigations, further information on cellular processes and mechanisms can be derived under physiological and pathological conditions. Bioimaging studies might enable the clarification of the role of copper in the context of neurodegenerative diseases and provide an important basis to develop therapeutic strategies for reduction or even prevention of copper-related disorders and their pathological consequences. T3 - Zweitveröffentlichungen der Universität Potsdam : Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Reihe - 862 KW - copper KW - cellular bioimaging KW - neurodegenerative diseases KW - copper-related disorders KW - SIMS techniques KW - TEM KW - S-XRF Y1 - 2020 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-459544 SN - 1866-8372 IS - 862 ER - TY - GEN A1 - Beta, Carsten A1 - Gov, Nir S. A1 - Yochelis, Arik T1 - Why a Large-Scale Mode Can Be Essential for Understanding Intracellular Actin Waves T2 - Postprints der Universität Potsdam : Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Reihe N2 - During the last decade, intracellular actin waves have attracted much attention due to their essential role in various cellular functions, ranging from motility to cytokinesis. Experimental methods have advanced significantly and can capture the dynamics of actin waves over a large range of spatio-temporal scales. However, the corresponding coarse-grained theory mostly avoids the full complexity of this multi-scale phenomenon. In this perspective, we focus on a minimal continuum model of activator–inhibitor type and highlight the qualitative role of mass conservation, which is typically overlooked. Specifically, our interest is to connect between the mathematical mechanisms of pattern formation in the presence of a large-scale mode, due to mass conservation, and distinct behaviors of actin waves. T3 - Zweitveröffentlichungen der Universität Potsdam : Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Reihe - 967 KW - nonlinear waves KW - actin polymerization KW - bifurcation theory KW - mass conservation KW - spatial localization KW - pattern formation KW - activator–inhibitor models Y1 - 2020 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-473588 SN - 1866-8372 IS - 967 ER - TY - GEN A1 - Dommain, René A1 - Andama, Morgan A1 - McDonough, Molly M. A1 - Prado, Natalia A. A1 - Goldhammer, Tobias A1 - Potts, Richard A1 - Maldonado, Jesús E. A1 - Nkurunungi, John Bosco A1 - Campana, Michael G. T1 - The Challenges of Reconstructing Tropical Biodiversity With Sedimentary Ancient DNA BT - A 2200-Year-Long Metagenomic Record From Bwindi Impenetrable Forest, Uganda T2 - Postprints der Universität Potsdam : Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Reihe N2 - Sedimentary ancient DNA has been proposed as a key methodology for reconstructing biodiversity over time. Yet, despite the concentration of Earth’s biodiversity in the tropics, this method has rarely been applied in this region. Moreover, the taphonomy of sedimentary DNA, especially in tropical environments, is poorly understood. This study elucidates challenges and opportunities of sedimentary ancient DNA approaches for reconstructing tropical biodiversity. We present shotgun-sequenced metagenomic profiles and DNA degradation patterns from multiple sediment cores from Mubwindi Swamp, located in Bwindi Impenetrable Forest (Uganda), one of the most diverse forests in Africa. We describe the taxonomic composition of the sediments covering the past 2200 years and compare the sedimentary DNA data with a comprehensive set of environmental and sedimentological parameters to unravel the conditions of DNA degradation. Consistent with the preservation of authentic ancient DNA in tropical swamp sediments, DNA concentration and mean fragment length declined exponentially with age and depth, while terminal deamination increased with age. DNA preservation patterns cannot be explained by any environmental parameter alone, but age seems to be the primary driver of DNA degradation in the swamp. Besides degradation, the presence of living microbial communities in the sediment also affects DNA quantity. Critically, 92.3% of our metagenomic data of a total 81.8 million unique, merged reads cannot be taxonomically identified due to the absence of genomic references in public databases. Of the remaining 7.7%, most of the data (93.0%) derive from Bacteria and Archaea, whereas only 0–5.8% are from Metazoa and 0–6.9% from Viridiplantae, in part due to unbalanced taxa representation in the reference data. The plant DNA record at ordinal level agrees well with local pollen data but resolves less diversity. Our animal DNA record reveals the presence of 41 native taxa (16 orders) including Afrotheria, Carnivora, and Ruminantia at Bwindi during the past 2200 years. Overall, we observe no decline in taxonomic richness with increasing age suggesting that several-thousand-year-old information on past biodiversity can be retrieved from tropical sediments. However, comprehensive genomic surveys of tropical biota need prioritization for sedimentary DNA to be a viable methodology for future tropical biodiversity studies. T3 - Zweitveröffentlichungen der Universität Potsdam : Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Reihe - 970 KW - sedimentary ancient DNA KW - tropical biodiversity KW - DNA preservation KW - sediment KW - tropical swamp KW - shotgun sequencing KW - metagenomic analysis Y1 - 2020 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-474305 SN - 1866-8372 IS - 970 ER - TY - GEN A1 - Bolius, Sarah A1 - Morling, Karoline A1 - Wiedner, Claudia A1 - Weithoff, Guntram T1 - Genetic Identity and Herbivory Drive the Invasion of a Common Aquatic Microbial Invader T2 - Postprints der Universität Potsdam : Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Reihe N2 - Despite the increasing number of species invasions, the factors driving invasiveness are still under debate. This is particularly the case for “invisible” invasions by aquatic microbial species. Since in many cases only a few individuals or propagules enter a new habitat, their genetic variation is low and might limit their invasion success, known as the genetic bottleneck. Thus, a key question is, how genetic identity and diversity of invading species influences their invasion success and, subsequently, affect the resident community. We conducted invader-addition experiments using genetically different strains of the globally invasive, aquatic cyanobacterium Raphidiopsis raciborskii (formerly: Cylindrospermopsis raciborskii) to determine the role of invader identity and genetic diversity (strain richness) at four levels of herbivory. We tested the invasion success of solitary single strain invasions against the invader genetic diversity, which was experimentally increased up to ten strains (multi-strain populations). By using amplicon sequencing we determined the strain-specific invasion success in the multi-strain treatments and compared those with the success of these strains in the single-strain treatments. Furthermore, we tested for the invasion success under different herbivore pressures. We showed that high grazing pressure by a generalist herbivore prevented invasion, whereas a specialist herbivore enabled coexistence of consumer and invader. We found a weak effect of diversity on invasion success only under highly competitive conditions. When invasions were successful, the magnitude of this success was strain-specific and consistent among invasions performed with single-strain or multi-strain populations. A strain-specific effect was also observed on the resident phytoplankton community composition, highlighting the strong role of invader genetic identity. Our results point to a strong effect of the genetic identity on the invasion success under low predation pressure. The genetic diversity of the invader population, however, had little effect on invasion success in our study, in contrast to most previous findings. Instead, it is the interaction between the consumer abundance and type together with the strain identity of the invader that defined invasion success. This study underlines the importance of strain choice in invasion research and in ecological studies in general. T3 - Zweitveröffentlichungen der Universität Potsdam : Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Reihe - 971 KW - alien species KW - genotype KW - invasibility KW - cyanobacteria KW - consumptive resistance KW - phytoplankton KW - Raphidiopsis KW - genetic diversity Y1 - 2020 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-474333 SN - 1866-8372 IS - 971 ER - TY - GEN A1 - Kolyvushko, Oleksandr A1 - Latzke, Juliane A1 - Dahmani, Ismail A1 - Osterrieder, Nikolaus A1 - Chiantia, Salvatore A1 - Azab, Walid T1 - Differentially-charged liposomes interact with alphaherpesviruses and interfere with virus entry T2 - Postprints der Universität Potsdam : Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Reihe N2 - Exposure of phosphatidylserine (PS) in the outer leaflet of the plasma membrane is induced by infection with several members of the Alphaherpesvirinae subfamily. There is evidence that PS is used by the equine herpesvirus type 1 (EHV-1) during entry, but the exact role of PS and other phospholipids in the entry process remains unknown. Here, we investigated the interaction of differently charged phospholipids with virus particles and determined their influence on infection. Our data show that liposomes containing negatively charged PS or positively charged DOTAP (N-[1-(2,3-Dioleoyloxy)propyl]-N,N,N-trimethylammonium) inhibited EHV-1 infection, while neutral phosphatidylcholine (PC) had no effect. Inhibition of infection with PS was transient, decreased with time, and was dose dependent. Our findings indicate that both cationic and anionic phospholipids can interact with the virus and reduce infectivity, while, presumably, acting through different mechanisms. Charged phospholipids were found to have antiviral effects and may be used to inhibit EHV-1 infection. T3 - Zweitveröffentlichungen der Universität Potsdam : Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Reihe - 1088 KW - alphaherpesvirus KW - EHV-1 KW - phosphatidylserine KW - inhibition KW - pathogen host interaction Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-471895 SN - 1866-8372 IS - 1088 ER - TY - GEN A1 - Krasotkina, Anna A1 - Götz, Antonia A1 - Höhle, Barbara A1 - Schwarzer, Gudrun T1 - Infants’ gaze patterns for same-race and other-race faces, and the other-race effect T2 - Postprints der Universität Potsdam : Humanwissenschaftliche Reihe N2 - The other-race effect (ORE) can be described as difficulties in discriminating between faces of ethnicities other than one’s own, and can already be observed at approximately 9 months of age. Recent studies also showed that infants visually explore same-and other-race faces differently. However, it is still unclear whether infants’ looking behavior for same- and other-race faces is related to their face discrimination abilities. To investigate this question we conducted a habituation–dishabituation experiment to examine Caucasian 9-month-old infants’ gaze behavior, and their discrimination of same- and other-race faces, using eye-tracking measurements. We found that infants looked longer at the eyes of same-race faces over the course of habituation, as compared to other-race faces. After habituation, infants demonstrated a clear other-race effect by successfully discriminating between same-race faces, but not other-race faces. Importantly, the infants’ ability to discriminate between same-race faces significantly correlated with their fixation time towards the eyes of same-race faces during habituation. Thus, our findings suggest that for infants old enough to begin exhibiting the ORE, gaze behavior during habituation is related to their ability to differentiate among same-race faces, compared to other-race faces. T3 - Zweitveröffentlichungen der Universität Potsdam : Humanwissenschaftliche Reihe - 686 KW - eye-tracking KW - infancy KW - habituation KW - other-race effect KW - face discrimination Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-471615 SN - 1866-8364 IS - 686 ER - TY - GEN A1 - He, Hai A1 - Höper, Rune A1 - Dodenhöft, Moritz A1 - Marlière, Philippe A1 - Bar-Even, Arren T1 - An optimized methanol assimilation pathway relying on promiscuous formaldehyde-condensing aldolases in E. coli T2 - Postprints der Universität Potsdam : Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Reihe N2 - Engineering biotechnological microorganisms to use methanol as a feedstock for bioproduction is a major goal for the synthetic metabolism community. Here, we aim to redesign the natural serine cycle for implementation in E. coli. We propose the homoserine cycle, relying on two promiscuous formaldehyde aldolase reactions, as a superior pathway design. The homoserine cycle is expected to outperform the serine cycle and its variants with respect to biomass yield, thermodynamic favorability, and integration with host endogenous metabolism. Even as compared to the RuMP cycle, the most efficient naturally occurring methanol assimilation route, the homoserine cycle is expected to support higher yields of a wide array of products. We test the in vivo feasibility of the homoserine cycle by constructing several E. coli gene deletion strains whose growth is coupled to the activity of different pathway segments. Using this approach, we demonstrate that all required promiscuous enzymes are active enough to enable growth of the auxotrophic strains. Our findings thus identify a novel metabolic solution that opens the way to an optimized methylotrophic platform. T3 - Zweitveröffentlichungen der Universität Potsdam : Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Reihe - 997 KW - Pathway design KW - Promiscuous enzymes KW - Formaldehyde assimilation KW - Serine cycle KW - Growth selection Y1 - 2020 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-476452 SN - 1866-8372 IS - 997 SP - 1 EP - 13 ER - TY - GEN A1 - He, Hai A1 - Noor, Elad A1 - Ramos-Parra, Perla A. A1 - García-Valencia, Liliana E. A1 - Patterson, Jenelle A. A1 - Díaz de la Garza, Rocío I. A1 - Hanson, Andrew D. A1 - Bar-Even, Arren T1 - In Vivo Rate of Formaldehyde Condensation with Tetrahydrofolate T2 - Postprints der Universität Potsdam : Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Reihe N2 - Formaldehyde is a highly reactive compound that participates in multiple spontaneous reactions, but these are mostly deleterious and damage cellular components. In contrast, the spontaneous condensation of formaldehyde with tetrahydrofolate (THF) has been proposed to contribute to the assimilation of this intermediate during growth on C1 carbon sources such as methanol. However, the in vivo rate of this condensation reaction is unknown and its possible contribution to growth remains elusive. Here, we used microbial platforms to assess the rate of this condensation in the cellular environment. We constructed Escherichia coli strains lacking the enzymes that naturally produce 5,10-methylene-THF. These strains were able to grow on minimal medium only when equipped with a sarcosine (N-methyl-glycine) oxidation pathway that sustained a high cellular concentration of formaldehyde, which spontaneously reacts with THF to produce 5,10-methylene-THF. We used flux balance analysis to derive the rate of the spontaneous condensation from the observed growth rate. According to this, we calculated that a microorganism obtaining its entire biomass via the spontaneous condensation of formaldehyde with THF would have a doubling time of more than three weeks. Hence, this spontaneous reaction is unlikely to serve as an effective route for formaldehyde assimilation. T3 - Zweitveröffentlichungen der Universität Potsdam : Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Reihe - 998 KW - one-carbon metabolism KW - spontaneous reaction KW - auxotrophy KW - serine cycle KW - phenotypic phase plane Y1 - 2020 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-476472 SN - 1866-8372 IS - 998 ER - TY - GEN A1 - Brust, Henrike A1 - Orzechowski, Slawomir A1 - Fettke, Jörg T1 - Starch and Glycogen Analyses BT - Methods and Techniques T2 - Postprints der Universität Potsdam : Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Reihe N2 - For complex carbohydrates, such as glycogen and starch, various analytical methods and techniques exist allowing the detailed characterization of these storage carbohydrates. In this article, we give a brief overview of the most frequently used methods, techniques, and results. Furthermore, we give insights in the isolation, purification, and fragmentation of both starch and glycogen. An overview of the different structural levels of the glucans is given and the corresponding analytical techniques are discussed. Moreover, future perspectives of the analytical needs and the challenges of the currently developing scientific questions are included T3 - Zweitveröffentlichungen der Universität Potsdam : Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Reihe - 1004 KW - starch KW - glycogen KW - analytics Y1 - 2020 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-478054 SN - 1866-8372 IS - 1004 ER - TY - GEN A1 - Omidbakhshfard, Mohammad Amin A1 - Neerakkal, Sujeeth A1 - Gupta, Saurabh A1 - Omranian, Nooshin A1 - Guinan, Kieran J. A1 - Brotman, Yariv A1 - Nikoloski, Zoran A1 - Fernie, Alisdair R. A1 - Mueller-Roeber, Bernd A1 - Gechev, Tsanko S. T1 - A Biostimulant Obtained from the Seaweed Ascophyllum nodosum Protects Arabidopsis thaliana from Severe Oxidative Stress T2 - Postprints der Universität Potsdam : Mathematisch Naturwissenschaftliche Reihe N2 - Abiotic stresses cause oxidative damage in plants. Here, we demonstrate that foliar application of an extract from the seaweed Ascophyllum nodosum, SuperFifty (SF), largely prevents paraquat (PQ)-induced oxidative stress in Arabidopsis thaliana. While PQ-stressed plants develop necrotic lesions, plants pre-treated with SF (i.e., primed plants) were unaffected by PQ. Transcriptome analysis revealed induction of reactive oxygen species (ROS) marker genes, genes involved in ROS-induced programmed cell death, and autophagy-related genes after PQ treatment. These changes did not occur in PQ-stressed plants primed with SF. In contrast, upregulation of several carbohydrate metabolism genes, growth, and hormone signaling as well as antioxidant-related genes were specific to SF-primed plants. Metabolomic analyses revealed accumulation of the stress-protective metabolite maltose and the tricarboxylic acid cycle intermediates fumarate and malate in SF-primed plants. Lipidome analysis indicated that those lipids associated with oxidative stress-induced cell death and chloroplast degradation, such as triacylglycerols (TAGs), declined upon SF priming. Our study demonstrated that SF confers tolerance to PQ-induced oxidative stress in A. thaliana, an effect achieved by modulating a range of processes at the transcriptomic, metabolic, and lipid levels. T3 - Zweitveröffentlichungen der Universität Potsdam : Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Reihe - 823 KW - Ascophyllum nodosum KW - Arabidopsis thaliana KW - biostimulant KW - paraquat KW - priming KW - oxidative stress tolerance KW - reactive oxygen species Y1 - 2020 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-445093 SN - 1866-8372 IS - 823 ER - TY - GEN A1 - Werger, Luise A1 - Bergmann, Joana A1 - Weber, Ewald A1 - Heinze, Johannes T1 - Wind intensity affects fine root morphological traits with consequences for plant-soil feedback effects T2 - Postprints der Universität Potsdam : Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Reihe N2 - Wind influences the development, architecture and morphology of plant roots and may modify subsequent interactions between plants and soil (plant–soil feedbacks—PSFs). However, information on wind effects on fine root morphology is scarce and the extent to which wind changes plant–soil interactions remains unclear. Therefore, we investigated the effects of two wind intensity levels by manipulating surrounding vegetation height in a grassland PSF field experiment. We grew four common plant species (two grasses and two non-leguminous forbs) with soil biota either previously conditioned by these or other species and tested the effect of wind on root:shoot ratio, fine root morphological traits as well as the outcome for PSFs. Wind intensity did not affect biomass allocation (i.e. root:shoot ratio) in any species. However, fine-root morphology of all species changed under high wind intensity. High wind intensity increased specific root length and surface area and decreased root tissue density, especially in the two grasses. Similarly, the direction of PSFs changed under high wind intensity in all four species, but differences in biomass production on the different soils between high and low wind intensity were marginal and most pronounced when comparing grasses with forbs. Because soils did not differ in plant-available nor total nutrient content, the results suggest that wind-induced changes in root morphology have the potential to influence plant–soil interactions. Linking wind-induced changes in fine-root morphology to effects on PSF improves our understanding of plant–soil interactions under changing environmental conditions. T3 - Zweitveröffentlichungen der Universität Potsdam : Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Reihe - 1019 KW - Wind KW - root traits KW - root morphology KW - specific root length KW - plant–soil feedback Y1 - 2020 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-484092 SN - 1866-8372 IS - 1019 ER - TY - GEN A1 - Koetz, Joachim T1 - The Effect of Surface Modification of Gold Nanotriangles for Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering Performance T2 - Postprints der Universität Potsdam : Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Reihe N2 - A surface modification of ultraflat gold nanotriangles (AuNTs) with different shaped nanoparticles is of special relevance for surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) and the photo-catalytic activity of plasmonic substrates. Therefore, different approaches are used to verify the flat platelet morphology of the AuNTs by oriented overgrowth with metal nanoparticles. The most important part for the morphological transformation of the AuNTs is the coating layer, containing surfactants or polymers. By using well established AuNTs stabilized by a dioctyl sodium sulfosuccinate (AOT) bilayer, different strategies of surface modification with noble metal nanoparticles are possible. On the one hand undulated superstructures were synthesized by in situ growth of hemispherical gold nanoparticles in the polyethyleneimine (PEI)-coated AOT bilayer of the AuNTs. On the other hand spiked AuNTs were obtained by a direct reduction of Au³⁺ ions in the AOT double layer in presence of silver ions and ascorbic acid as reducing agent. Additionally, crumble topping of the smooth AuNTs can be realized after an exchange of the AOT bilayer by hyaluronic acid, followed by a silver-ion mediated reduction with ascorbic acid. Furthermore, a decoration with silver nanoparticles after coating the AOT bilayer with the cationic surfactant benzylhexadecyldimethylammonium chloride (BDAC) can be realized. In that case the ultraviolet (UV)-absorption of the undulated Au@Ag nanoplatelets can be tuned depending on the degree of decoration with silver nanoparticles. Comparing the Raman scattering data for the plasmon driven dimerization of 4-nitrothiophenol (4-NTP) to 4,4′-dimercaptoazobenzene (DMAB) one can conclude that the most important effect of surface modification with a 75 times higher enhancement factor in SERS experiments becomes available by decoration with gold spikes. T3 - Zweitveröffentlichungen der Universität Potsdam : Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Reihe - 1022 KW - undulated KW - spiked and crumble gold nanotriangles KW - SERS enhancement factor KW - dimerization of 4-nitrothiophenol KW - AOT bilayer KW - PEI coating Y1 - 2020 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-485172 SN - 1866-8372 IS - 1022 ER - TY - GEN A1 - Zhang, Youjun A1 - Chen, Moxian A1 - Siemiatkowska, Beata A1 - Toleco, Mitchell Rey A1 - Jing, Yue A1 - Strotmann, Vivien A1 - Zhang, Jianghua A1 - Stahl, Yvonne A1 - Fernie, Alisdair R. T1 - A highly efficient agrobacterium-mediated method for transient gene expression and functional studies in multiple plant species T2 - Postprints der Universität Potsdam : Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Reihe N2 - Although the use of stable transformation technology has led to great insight into gene function, its application in high-throughput studies remains arduous. Agro-infiltration have been widely used in species such as Nicotiana benthamiana for the rapid detection of gene expression and protein interaction analysis, but this technique does not work efficiently in other plant species, including Arabidopsis thaliana. As an efficient high-throughput transient expression system is currently lacking in the model plant species A. thaliana, we developed a method that is characterized by high efficiency, reproducibility, and suitability for transient expression of a variety of functional proteins in A. thaliana and 7 other plant species, including Brassica oleracea, Capsella rubella, Thellungiella salsuginea, Thellungiella halophila, Solanum tuberosum, Capsicum annuum, and N. benthamiana. Efficiency of this method was independently verified in three independent research facilities, pointing to the robustness of this technique. Furthermore, in addition to demonstrating the utility of this technique in a range of species, we also present a case study employing this method to assess protein-protein interactions in the sucrose biosynthesis pathway in Arabidopsis. T3 - Zweitveröffentlichungen der Universität Potsdam : Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Reihe - 1189 KW - transient expression KW - agro-infiltration KW - subcellular localization KW - protein-protein interaction Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-524254 SN - 1866-8372 IS - 5 ER - TY - GEN A1 - Grafe, Marianne A1 - Hofmann, Phillip A1 - Batsios, Petros A1 - Meyer, Irene A1 - Gräf, Ralph T1 - In vivo assembly of a Dictyostelium lamin mutant induced by light, mechanical stress, and pH T2 - Postprints der Universität Potsdam : Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Reihe N2 - We expressed Dictyostelium lamin (NE81) lacking both a functional nuclear localization signal and a CAAX-box for C-terminal lipid modification. This lamin mutant assembled into supramolecular, three-dimensional clusters in the cytosol that disassembled at the onset of mitosis and re-assembled in late telophase, thus mimicking the behavior of the endogenous protein. As disassembly is regulated by CDK1-mediated phosphorylation at serine 122, we generated a phosphomimetic S122E mutant called GFP-NE81-S122E-∆NLS∆CLIM. Surprisingly, during imaging, the fusion protein assembled into cytosolic clusters, similar to the protein lacking the phosphomimetic mutation. Clusters disassembled again in the darkness. Assembly could be induced with blue but not green or near ultraviolet light, and it was independent of the fusion tag. Assembly similarly occurred upon cell flattening. Earlier reports and own observations suggested that both blue light and cell flattening could result in a decrease of intracellular pH. Indeed, keeping the cells at low pH also reversibly induced cluster formation. Our results indicate that lamin assembly can be induced by various stress factors and that these are transduced via intracellular acidification. Although these effects have been shown in a phosphomimetic CDK1 mutant of the Dictyostelium lamin, they are likely relevant also for wild-type lamin. T3 - Zweitveröffentlichungen der Universität Potsdam : Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Reihe - 1213 KW - lamin KW - NE81 KW - Dictyostelium KW - nuclear envelope KW - nuclear lamina Y1 - 2020 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-525075 SN - 1866-8372 IS - 8 ER - TY - GEN A1 - Banerjee, Pallavi A1 - Lipowsky, Reinhard A1 - Santer, Mark T1 - Coarse-grained molecular model for the Glycosylphosphatidylinositol anchor with and without protein T2 - Postprints der Universität Potsdam : Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Reihe N2 - Glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI) anchors are a unique class of complex glycolipids that anchor a great variety of proteins to the extracellular leaflet of plasma membranes of eukaryotic cells. These anchors can exist either with or without an attached protein called GPI-anchored protein (GPI-AP) both in vitro and in vivo. Although GPIs are known to participate in a broad range of cellular functions, it is to a large extent unknown how these are related to GPI structure and composition. Their conformational flexibility and microheterogeneity make it difficult to study them experimentally. Simplified atomistic models are amenable to all-atom computer simulations in small lipid bilayer patches but not suitable for studying their partitioning and trafficking in complex and heterogeneous membranes. Here, we present a coarse-grained model of the GPI anchor constructed with a modified version of the MARTINI force field that is suited for modeling carbohydrates, proteins, and lipids in an aqueous environment using MARTINI's polarizable water. The nonbonded interactions for sugars were reparametrized by calculating their partitioning free energies between polar and apolar phases. In addition, sugar-sugar interactions were optimized by adjusting the second virial coefficients of osmotic pressures for solutions of glucose, sucrose, and trehalose to match with experimental data. With respect to the conformational dynamics of GPI-anchored green fluorescent protein, the accessible time scales are now at least an order of magnitude larger than for the all-atom system. This is particularly important for fine-tuning the mutual interactions of lipids, carbohydrates, and amino acids when comparing to experimental results. We discuss the prospective use of the coarse-grained GPI model for studying protein-sorting and trafficking in membrane models. T3 - Zweitveröffentlichungen der Universität Potsdam : Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Reihe - 1216 KW - Martini force-field KW - osmotic-pressure KW - potential-functions KW - aqueous-solution KW - dynamics KW - coefficient KW - simulation KW - trypanosoma KW - transition KW - parameters Y1 - 2020 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-523742 SN - 1866-8372 IS - 6 ER - TY - GEN A1 - König, Christian A1 - Weigelt, Patrick A1 - Taylor, Amanda A1 - Stein, Anke A1 - Dawson, Wayne A1 - Essl, Franz A1 - Pergl, Jan A1 - Pyšek, Petr A1 - Kleunen, Mark van A1 - Winter, Marten A1 - Chatelain, Cyrille A1 - Wieringa, Jan J. A1 - Krestov, Pavel A1 - Kreft, Holger T1 - Source pools and disharmony of the world’s island floras T2 - Postprints der Universität Potsdam : Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Reihe N2 - Island disharmony refers to the biased representation of higher taxa on islands compared to their mainland source regions and represents a central concept in island biology. Here, we develop a generalizable framework for approximating these source regions and conduct the first global assessment of island disharmony and its underlying drivers. We compiled vascular plant species lists for 178 oceanic islands and 735 mainland regions. Using mainland data only, we modelled species turnover as a function of environmental and geographic distance and predicted the proportion of shared species between each island and mainland region. We then quantified the over- or under-representation of families on individual islands (representational disharmony) by contrasting the observed number of species against a null model of random colonization from the mainland source pool, and analysed the effects of six family-level functional traits on the resulting measure. Furthermore, we aggregated the values of representational disharmony per island to characterize overall taxonomic bias of a given flora (compositional disharmony), and analysed this second measure as a function of four island biogeographical variables. Our results indicate considerable variation in representational disharmony both within and among plant families. Examples of generally over-represented families include Urticaceae, Convolvulaceae and almost all pteridophyte families. Other families such as Asteraceae and Orchidaceae were generally under-represented, with local peaks of over-representation in known radiation hotspots. Abiotic pollination and a lack of dispersal specialization were most strongly associated with an insular over-representation of families, whereas other family-level traits showed minor effects. With respect to compositional disharmony, large, high-elevation islands tended to have the most disharmonic floras. Our results provide important insights into the taxon- and island-specific drivers of disharmony. The proposed framework allows overcoming the limitations of previous approaches and provides a quantitative basis for incorporating functional and phylogenetic approaches into future studies of island disharmony. T3 - Zweitveröffentlichungen der Universität Potsdam : Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Reihe - 1211 KW - assembly processes KW - biotic filtering KW - dispersal filtering KW - environmental filtering KW - generalized dissimilarity modelling KW - island disharmony KW - island syndromes KW - source regions KW - vascular plants Y1 - 2020 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-525101 SN - 1866-8372 IS - 1 ER - TY - GEN A1 - Li, Chen A1 - Stoma, Svetlana A1 - Lotta, Luca A. A1 - Warner, Sophie A1 - Albrecht, Eva A1 - Allione, Alessandra A1 - Arp, Pascal P. A1 - Broer, Linda A1 - Buxton, Jessica L. A1 - Boeing, Heiner A1 - Langenberg, Claudia A1 - Codd, Veryan T1 - Genome-wide association analysis in humans links nucleotide metabolism to leukocyte telomere length T2 - Postprints der Universität Potsdam : Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Reihe N2 - Leukocyte telomere length (LTL) is a heritable biomarker of genomic aging. In this study, we perform a genome-wide meta-analysis of LTL by pooling densely genotyped and imputed association results across large-scale European-descent studies including up to 78,592 individuals. We identify 49 genomic regions at a false dicovery rate (FDR) < 0.05 threshold and prioritize genes at 31, with five highlighting nucleotide metabolism as an important regulator of LTL. We report six genome-wide significant loci in or near SENP7, MOB1B, CARMIL1 , PRRC2A, TERF2, and RFWD3, and our results support recently identified PARP1, POT1, ATM, and MPHOSPH6 loci. Phenome-wide analyses in >350,000 UK Biobank participants suggest that genetically shorter telomere length increases the risk of hypothyroidism and decreases the risk of thyroid cancer, lymphoma, and a range of proliferative conditions. Our results replicate previously reported associations with increased risk of coronary artery disease and lower risk for multiple cancer types. Our findings substantially expand current knowledge on genes that regulate LTL and their impact on human health and disease. T3 - Zweitveröffentlichungen der Universität Potsdam : Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Reihe - 1205 KW - Mendelian randomization KW - risk KW - variants KW - disease KW - cancer KW - loci KW - database KW - genes KW - heart KW - gwas Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-526843 SN - 1866-8372 IS - 3 ER - TY - GEN A1 - Noonan, Michael J. A1 - Fleming, Christen H. A1 - Tucker, Marlee A. A1 - Kays, Roland A1 - Harrison, Autumn-Lynn A1 - Crofoot, Margaret C. A1 - Abrahms, Briana A1 - Alberts, Susan C. A1 - Ali, Abdullahi H. A1 - Blaum, Niels T1 - Effects of body size on estimation of mammalian area requirements T2 - Postprints der Universität Potsdam : Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Reihe N2 - Accurately quantifying species' area requirements is a prerequisite for effective area-based conservation. This typically involves collecting tracking data on species of interest and then conducting home-range analyses. Problematically, autocorrelation in tracking data can result in space needs being severely underestimated. Based on the previous work, we hypothesized the magnitude of underestimation varies with body mass, a relationship that could have serious conservation implications. To evaluate this hypothesis for terrestrial mammals, we estimated home-range areas with global positioning system (GPS) locations from 757 individuals across 61 globally distributed mammalian species with body masses ranging from 0.4 to 4000 kg. We then applied block cross-validation to quantify bias in empirical home-range estimates. Area requirements of mammals <10 kg were underestimated by a mean approximately15%, and species weighing approximately100 kg were underestimated by approximately50% on average. Thus, we found area estimation was subject to autocorrelation-induced bias that was worse for large species. Combined with the fact that extinction risk increases as body mass increases, the allometric scaling of bias we observed suggests the most threatened species are also likely to be those with the least accurate home-range estimates. As a correction, we tested whether data thinning or autocorrelation-informed home-range estimation minimized the scaling effect of autocorrelation on area estimates. Data thinning required an approximately93% data loss to achieve statistical independence with 95% confidence and was, therefore, not a viable solution. In contrast, autocorrelation-informed home-range estimation resulted in consistently accurate estimates irrespective of mass. When relating body mass to home range size, we detected that correcting for autocorrelation resulted in a scaling exponent significantly >1, meaning the scaling of the relationship changed substantially at the upper end of the mass spectrum. T3 - Zweitveröffentlichungen der Universität Potsdam : Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Reihe - 1206 KW - allometry KW - animal movement KW - area-based conservation KW - autocorrelation KW - home range KW - kernel density estimation KW - reserve design KW - scaling Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-526824 SN - 1866-8372 IS - 4 ER -